Key Takeaways from COP16
November 26, 2024
Last month, we were very grateful to be in attendance at the 16th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP16) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in Cali, Colombia, to share our innovative conservation model with attendees, host a side event on The Power of Partnerships and Technology to Stop Illegal Gold Mining in the Amazon, and participate in many other events and meetings dedicated to protecting the world’s biological diversity.
In Cali, our Alliance sister organizations Conservación Amazónica-ACCA in Peru and Conservación Amazónica-ACEAA in Bolivia joined us, as well as colleagues from our on-the-ground partners Fundación EcoCiencia (Ecuador), FCDS (Colombia), FENAMAD (Peru), Instituto Igarapé (Brazil), and others, to share our collective experiences working across borders to tackle some of the greatest threats to the Amazon’s biodiversity.
Our Director of Strategy and Policy, Blaise Bodin, shares his perspective about the key takeaways of COP16 and Amazon Conservation’s role moving forward.
Q: What is the importance of COP16 on Biodiversity?
Blaise: The Conference of the Parties (also known as “COP”) is the decision-making body of international conventions, such as the UN Convention on Climate Change and the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). Climate COPs happen every year, while CBD COPs happen once every two years. At COPs, the parties to the Convention (the countries that have signed up for it) discuss more detailed targets to reach the overarching goals of the convention and ways in which they will contribute to these global targets through domestic action. COP16 was particularly important because it followed the adoption of a new global biodiversity framework comprising 23 targets at COP15. This was the first time that parties were meeting since adopting the global framework, and the main topics of discussion were the submission of national plans to implement the global targets and the financing needed for their implementation.
Q: What role do non-governmental organizations like Amazon Conservation play at global summits like COP?
Blaise: In addition to the official negotiations between countries, the COPs have also served as global events for civil society and international organizations to gather, showcase their work, and build new initiatives and partnerships aligned with the goals of the conventions. COP16 in Cali was no exception, and the vast majority of participants came to attend side events and for the opportunity to network rather than participate in the official negotiations as government representatives.
The work of Amazon Conservation’s team in Cali was focused on these opportunities to network and present our work to new potential partners and hear what others are doing in the region. The fact that the COP was in one of the Amazonian countries meant that there were a lot of representatives from organizations working in the region and many events focused on the Amazon, so it was a great opportunity in that sense, and so will the next climate COP that will be hosted in the Amazonian city of Belem, in Brazil, at the end of next year.
Q: What key takeaways do you have from COP16 related to the conservation of the Amazon?
Blaise: There’s really a flurry of action and new initiatives surrounding the Amazon and a sense that it is a critical piece in achieving any global goals for biodiversity or climate change. Especially with the extreme drought that has struck the region over the past 2 years and reached new records this year, there’s a renewed sense of urgency and that the time to act is now.
One really positive signal is that the dedicated regional organization in charge of cooperation between the eight countries of the Amazon, called ACTO (Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization), appointed a new Secretary-General. The announcement was made at the COP in Cali because the new Secretary-General of ACTO is from Colombia, so this could really give new impetus to conservation efforts from these governments at the regional scale. The Colombian government also launched a process for developing a global agreement on the traceability of rare metals, which could greatly help in the fight against illegal gold mining in the Amazon.
Q: Do you have any insights from the event about key opportunities for expanding the impact of Amazon Conservation’s and our partners’ work across the region?
Blaise: This is a great moment for Amazon Conservation to show the relevance of its extensive network of partners in the region and participate in a united front of civil society organizations to hold regional governments accountable for their promises to curb deforestation.
The message from the scientific community–which is now very much on everyone’s mind–couldn’t be clearer: we cannot afford to lose the Amazon if we want to stand a chance against the twin global challenges of biodiversity loss and climate change.
That means defending the Amazon against illegal activities as we have done and will continue to do in the coming years by expanding our monitoring work, especially focused on gold mining. But it also means ensuring that people living in the Amazon can thrive in ways that don’t require destroying the forest. This pivot to “bioeconomies” or “forest-based economies” was very present in the discussions at this COP; it’s clear that there are a lot of institutions that want to invest heavily in this transition. The main thing that these institutions need is “bankable projects” to invest in, projects that are well-structured but also well-connected to the communities on the ground. This is exactly what Amazon Conservation, through the Alliance and through our extended network of partners, can provide.
A recording of our side event at COP16 on The Power of Partnerships and Technology to Stop Illegal Gold Mining in the Amazon (presented in both English and Spanish) is available on the IUCN’s YouTube Channel here.
Loading...
